Hoods for outerwear garments typically having a face opening and drawstring provided in a passageway around the periphery of the face opening. The ends of the drawstring extend out of the passageway and are used to adjust the size of the face opening. When the ends of the drawstring are pulled and tightened, the face opening of the hood is made smaller, and no other adjustment of the hood, either in the lateral or vertical direction is available to accommodate the wearer's head size or the added bulk of other gear that may be under the hood.
To alleviate the above-mentioned shortcoming of the conventional face opening drawstring, hoods have been developed with various other adjustment features designed to better fit the head of the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,647 to Gossner discloses a hood having an external buckle and strap arrangement for providing vertical adjustment to the hood to adjust the forward edge of the hood with respect to the face of the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,192 to De Grazia discloses a hood adjustment having an oversize head covering portion with an inverted "V"-shaped channel at the rear of the hood that contains a drawstring secured at each end of the inverted "V". The free end of each drawstring is pulled separately or in conjunction with the second drawstring so that the anchored ends are drawn toward each other and pull the central portion of the hood down toward the base of the neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,560,598 to Rinis discloses a criss-crossing shoelace-type lacing arrangement at the rear neck area of a parka hood on opposing external flaps. This lacing arrangement provides primarily a lateral adjustment of the hood in the base of the neck area.
THE NORTH FACE Spring 1993 catalog at pages 58, 60 and 61 discloses a hood adjustment system that utilizes a flat webbing with an adjustable buckle/slider element on each side of the face opening of the hood at eye level. The webbing is set back from the edge of the face opening and is threaded through the buckle/slider to provide lateral adjustment of the hood. The buckle/slider system has limited adjustability and may interfere with peripheral vision.
A Spring-Summer 1983 MARMOT publication at page 12 discloses a parka hood having two hidden elastic bands to fit the hood securely to the head. The elastic bands are attached to the internal seam allowances at the temple area and to the lining seams of the central panel of the hood.
The MARMOT 1992-1993 Catalog discloses three different hood systems. The first type of adjustment system is disclosed on page 21, and uses a simple hook and loop strap on the back of the hood which provides a vertical manipulation of the hood. The second adjustment system is disclosed on page 24 and incorporates elastic bands that pass laterally from the left temple to the fight temple between the outer shell and lining of the hood. The elastic bands are joined to a conventional face opening drawstring for providing lateral adjustability of the hood. The third adjustment system is disclosed on pages 12, 14 and 15, and comprises a "Y-shaped" Lycra panel inset within the woven hood lining. The arms of the Lycra "Y" extend laterally toward each temple to provide an unfixed and an unstable elastic fit in both the lateral and vertical directions.
The Fall 1991 NIKE Men's Apparel Catalog at pages 160-161 discloses the Nike ACG Multi-Day Gore-tex Jacket which incorporated a "Y-shaped" Lycra panel inset within the hood lining. The hood of the Nike ACG jacket also provides, like the above MARMOT system, an unfixed and unstable elastic fit in both the lateral and vertical directions.
None of the above-described references discloses a hood having an adjustment system which provides optimal adjustability in both the lateral and vertical directions for fitting various head sizes and layering of headgear under the hood, or to adapt to multiple conditions of use.